The Future of Science public lecture: Science shaped the world as we know it and will continue to influence our lives in yet unknown ways. The way science is conducted and the likelihood of discoveries to be made are not just in the hands of scientists, but also controlled by the way science funding and science quality assessments are organized. Is the future of science bright? Or shaded by budget cuts, triggering fraudulent practices and leaving little room for young scientists?

In this lecture the president of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW), Prof. dr. Hans Clevers, will present the conditions needed by universities to deliver excellent science and education, how to fulfill science's role in society, and how we can make that happen together.

After the lecture we would also like to hear your views, come and join the debate!

Short Biography of Hans Clevers: The geneticist and physician Prof. dr.Hans Clevers (born 1957) is the President of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) and a professor at Utrecht University Medical Centre (UMC-U). He studied medicine and biology, taking his doctorate at Utrecht University in 1985 and going on to carry out postdoctoral work at Harvard. From 1991 to 2002, he was professor of immunology at the UMC-U, where he has been professor of molecular genetics since 2002. From 2002 to 2012, he was the director of the Hubrecht Institute, one of the seventeen KNAW institutes, and since 2012 he is president of the KNAW. He is one of the world leaders in his research field, the study of the intestine in both its healthy and diseased state. Improved understanding of these processes is crucial to developing new ways of treating cancer. He has received countless research prizes in recent years, including the Spinoza Prize (2001), the Josephine Nefkens Prize for Cancer Research (2008) and the prestigious international Heineken Prize for Medicine (2012). In 2012 he was also made a Knight of the Order of Orange-Nassau. Besides having more than 350 publications he also holds a dozen patents and was involved in setting up a number of biotechnology companies such as Crucell, Hybrigenics, and Agamyxis.

Wageningen Young Academy (WYA) is an independent platform that brings together enthusiastic, ambitious and outstanding young scientists of Wageningen University across all its scientific disciplines. WYA aims at strengthening the position of this young generation of researchers within the University as well as promoting scientific excellence within and among science groups of Wageningen University. For more info on WYA surf to: